SINCE taking over as Temporary Chief Constable more than two years ago Jacqui Cheer has promised to create a bright new future for Cleveland Police.

Now that Operation Sacristy has come to a conclusion her plans to re-shape the force are in a position to move it forward.

She said: “It is a big day, it’s a mixed day, obviously, because people will experience a mixture of emotions. The issue now is the time and energy that we have been putting into supporting the inquiry can now be put into policing activities.

“The points of the misconduct hearing that are important to the public are that money that should have been spent on policing was spent on other things.”

Looking to the future and instilling confidence within the force, she said: “It’s hard because it is about building trust, you can put all the processes and policies in place that you want but this was down to individuals.

“The previous chief constable was here for a while, and for as long as it took him to get to the culture he got to, it could take me as long to undo it.”

The flagrant abuse of the corporate credit cards saw thousands of pounds being used by the former chief constable Sean Price, his deputy Derek Bonnard, former chief executive Joe McCarthy and fomer CPA chairman Dave McLuckie.

All of the details have been released on the Cleveland Police website that shows hundreds of thousands of pounds was spent on credit cards by 11 people over a five year period.